/ English Dictionary

LISTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hear with intention

Example:

Listen to the sound of this cello

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

"Listen" entails doing...:

hear (perceive (sound) via the auditory sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "listen"):

hear out (listen to every detail and give a full hearing to)

listen in (listen quietly, without contributing to the conversation)

advert; attend; give ear; hang; pay heed (give heed (to))

hark; harken; hearken (listen; used mostly in the imperative)

eavesdrop; listen in (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Also:

listen in (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

Derivation:

listener (someone who listens attentively)

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Listen and pay attention

Example:

We must hear the expert before we make a decision

Synonyms:

hear; listen; take heed

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet (direct one's attention on something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "listen"):

incline (bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

listener (someone who listens attentively)

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pay close attention to; give heed to

Example:

Heed the advice of the old men

Synonyms:

heed; listen; mind

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

obey (be obedient to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"She's right, the lad is lonely. I'll see what these little girls can do for him," thought Mr. Laurence, as he looked and listened.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They could not listen to her description of him.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The strange god paused at the foot of the great staircase and listened, and White Fang was as dead, so without movement was he as he watched and waited.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The child is asked to wait and listen for a specific stimulus.

(Conditioning Play Audiometry, NCI Thesaurus)

Volunteers were then asked to listen to the synthesized sentences and to transcribe what they heard.

(Scientists translate brain signals into speech sounds, National Institutes of Health)

On the first day, after taking medication, they listened to music for one hour.

(Music believed to boost hypertension treatment, Agência Brasil/EBC)

Listening to each other and working to resolve conflicts are important in strengthening the family.

(Family Issues, NIH)

Most children hear and listen from the moment they are born.

(Hearing Problems in Children, NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

She loves to talk of it as well as I do to listen.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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